This week I’m focusing on focus. Not because it’s easy but because it’s hard. And it’s getting harder. Who among us isn’t struggling?
Distracted warrior in the battle for focus.
1. BOOK. Stolen Focus, Why You Can't Pay Attention - and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari.
Word on the street has it that I’m not the only one struggling to focus these days. And it’s not just slow learners who struggle with focus. According to Hari, the problem is escalating and it can’t be fixed with a few mindfulness tricks or productivity hacks.
Hari makes a convincing case that the problem of focus is not our faults. Our focus has been stolen by design, for profit. Bands of super-smart people learned how addictive loops work, how to make a profit by watching our every move, and now we’re screwed.
The evil algorithms are winning. Resistance is futile.
So, how do we think deeply again? Eat better? Get more sleep? Work less, play more? Fast from our devices? Put our machines in a timed lock box? Hari suggests all these personal tweaks can be helpful, but his call to action isn’t focused on you. He’s focused on an “attention rebellion". Hari wants us to take on the bigger systems, make policy changes, regulate social media, and take other collective action.
2. QUOTE OF THE DAY
“There’s a war going on. The battlefield’s in the mind, and the prize is the soul.” Prince
3. LITTLE FREE LIBRARY FIND OF THE WEEK
I’m a big fan of Oliver Burkeman’s newer book, 4000 weeks which inspired this comic, 7 signs you’re not getting things done
and this post, the already been done list.
4. HOW TO BE A WRITER (comic): Ever try writing morning pages a la Julia Cameron’s Artist Way? If you’re slow like me, you may find it hard to meet the three-page quota. Help is on the way. Here’s my 7 ways to cheat your way through your morning writing practice.
5. HOW TO BE A WRITER (for reals): Short story superstar, master teacher, and Slow Learning favorite, George Saunders, has a newsletter about writing and it’s awesome! Here’s a sketchnote I made of one of his earlier pieces a few weeks ago.
6 . FILM: Talk about focus reminds me of this clip, my worst nightmare, “Daddy’s out of Focus!”
7. VISUAL THINKING: One way I’ve learned to compensate for my wandering focus is by drawing. I doodle my way through conversations, through lectures, through book talks, through academic conferences. I doodle so much that other people use by drawings to help them make sense of complex issues.
Example from last year’s symposium
As a part of the Relating Systemic Design Symposium, I will be offering an online workshop: “Sketchnoting for Systemic Design.” I’ll be sharing my process, including tips and suggestions for creating visual notes for complex conversations. Only a few slots remain. Shoot me a line and let me know if you’re interested in attending.
8. REAL LIFE SLOW LEARNING LESSONS in FOCUS (and Humility).
The dance floor is another one of those rare places where I focus like nobody’s business.
Nothing else matters. Just me and the music and the movement and the miracle of play.
Here’s the set on Mixcloud. And here’s a journey map comic of how DJ Ratsy focuses to select tunes for your Ecstatic Dance Pleasure.
9. FROM THE ARCHIVES: What’s wrong with you. Is your lack of focused attention a problem? Maybe it’s a gift.
10. UNEDITED and IN THE RAW from my morning pages:
Alt Text
Crayon doodles in the margin of a composition notebook page with the following hand written in black ink in cursive
In the end
All the angsty worry never did
any good. All the self-flagellation
didn’t help. All the dark night
of the soul fret and folly and
inner battles came to no good
Know what did?
Making stuff
Playing with friends and other
clowns
Marking art in part of course
fueled by all the darkness
flavored by urgency (it is always
later than you think)
And gratitude
And acknowledgement
And acts of love
Gifts given from the heart
And dancing always dancing
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